Samsung ships 500,000 Galaxy Gears in Q1 2014, has 71% of the smartwatch market

Whether you like them or not, smartwatches are here to stay and the current leader on the market for wearables is unsurprisingly none other than Samsung. According to a report by Strategy Analytics, the tech giant from the Far East had 71% of the market during the first quarter of the year, as it shipped 500,000 smartwatches during the trimester.

But what's more interesting is that the manufacturer grasped the lion's share of the market by only selling the original Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The second generation of Samsung's wearables, the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo, got unveiled back in February, but they didn't hit the shelves until April 11, which is in Q2. If we take into consideration that the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo are arguably way better than the Galaxy Gear, we can presume that Samsung might ship even more units of its new wearable gadgets in the upcoming months.

Strategy Analytics' report also reveals that the worldwide market for smartwatches scored a substantial 250% increase in Q1 2014 in comparison with the same period back in 2013. We would wager that with upcoming and anticipated smartwatches, such as the Moto 360, the LG G Watch, and the highly-rumored iWatch, this number might go even higher. What's more, it will be more than curious to see if Samsung will continue to be the major player on this relatively new market niche or its rivals will quickly diminish the company's dominant presence.

source: Strategy Analytics via SamMobile